


When you are ready

by jealouscake



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Post-Hogwarts, Post-War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 20:30:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16794187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jealouscake/pseuds/jealouscake
Summary: "Okay, fine. Marry Malfoy then. Do what you have to do, but you can't count on me. You can go to hell for all I care." Ron said coldly.





	When you are ready

"What? You... _What_?" Harry sighed. This was the reason why he had deferred this conversation for several weeks. During that time he had tried to convince himself that his concerns were unjustified. That Ron was his best friend. That he would certainly be happy for him. Now he was facing exactly the reaction he knew had to come. Although he had been afraid of it earlier, Harry was completely calm at the moment. He was prepared after all. It was bound to happen.

"You can't mean that!" Ron looked at him as if he had lost his mind. Harry did not say anything. What would it change? Ron looked back at the invitation in his hand. He probably wished he had misread it the first time. Or he hoped to somewhere find an indication that this was just a stupid joke. When he didn't find one, he looked up again. "Really?"  
  
Harry nodded. He noticed that Ron looked tired. He had dark circles under his eyes. Also, his hair was unkempt and he had apparently not shaved for days. Harry resisted the need to ask if everything was alright. That wasn't why he was here. Instead, he averted his gaze from Ron's face and let it wander around the small room. The living room was still not fully arranged. In the corner next to the dingy gray sofa stood the two large moving boxes that he and Ron had put there when he moved in here in August. That was three months ago.

"But without a magic marriage vow, right?" Ron's voice sounded so wary that Harry didn't want to look at him. "Yes, with the vow." he said to Ron's shoes. When he heard an incredulous snort, he wanted to feel anger, but he couldn't. In his mind's eye, he saw the conceited expression Draco would have on his face at the sight of Ron's worn out shoes. He would have wrinkled his nose at everything here.

"You can't do that, Harry!" Ron seemed to know exactly what Harry could and what he couldn't do. In fact, he could not marry Draco without taking a magical marriage vow. It was an old tradition of pure wizarding families upon which Draco set great value.  
  
"You cannot break this vow." Ron said, sounding almost hopeful. He probably thought there was a chance Harry didn't know that before, and now that Ron had provided him with this new information, it would change his mind. "Yes I know." Harry glanced over Ron's light blue jeans and olive-green sweater and finally back to his face, which looked at him indignantly. He would miss the face, he thought; not the look.  
  
“But don't you understand? That's final, the vow is only broken by death, you're bound to it for the rest of your life, and when you break up with him, you'll feel like nothing on earth and there will be nothing you can do about it." Harry wondered if Ron thought him stupid. At the same time he had to admit that the idea to take such a vow had initially scared him off. He didn't really think much about such things.  
  
"I know what I'm doing, Ron." said Harry determined.  
  
"I don't understand you." Ron shook his head. "You can't be all there."  
  
"Well, _we_ are confident about the commitment." He should not have said that. He knew how bad Ron had taken the break up from Hermione and that he still hoped they could straighten it out. Harry did not know how likely that was, but as far as he could tell, they too had been feeling confident about their marriage once. After all, they had decided to have two children.  
  
"Okay, fine. Marry Malfoy then. Do what you have to do, but you can't count on me. You can go to hell for all I care." Ron said coldly. Harry knew he was hurt. And he also knew that Ron would never accept Draco by his side. He had already made his decision and was sure that he was doing the right thing. Still, as he approached Ron, he wished for a moment that he would say something, anything, that would change his mind, but he just stared at him blankly. Harry snatched the wedding invitation from his hand.  
  
The smell of firewhisky reached his nostrils. When he turned around, his eyes fell on an empty bottle on the coffee table that he had not noticed until now. Again he wondered if everything was alright, but he said nothing and went towards the door. Just as his hand gripped the doorknob, he heard a silent "Harry ...". He wasn't even sure if he had just imagined it or not, but it made him turn around again, against all intentions.  
  
Ron had followed him a few steps and stopped two meters behind him, apparently uncertain as to how and whether he should keep his best friend from leaving. He stared at Harry; His gaze was now no longer expressionless, it reflected the painful realization that he was about to lose another important person.  
  
Ron stood there, mouth agape; Harry looked at him and waited for what he had to say. The moment stretched strangely. When both of them realized that whatever it was that Ron wanted to get off his chest, just did not pass his lips, he closed them again and lowered his eyes.  
  
Outside the cold air struck Harry's face and his eyes filled with tears. As Harry struck the cold air outside, Harry's eyes filled with tears. It had started to snow. He took a deep breath and disapparated.


End file.
